Budget Reconciliation Outlook:
Last week, all 220 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives voted for a $3.5 trillion budget resolution embedded in a House rule that also sets a Sept. 27 deadline for a House vote on the Senate’s bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure package. The deal was punctuated with a statement from Speaker Pelosi, memorializing the mutual understanding of the terms, and a nominal commitment from Pelosi to only vote on a reconciliation bill “that can pass the Senate,” though progressive Democrats in the House pushed back, reiterating threats to vote against the bill unless they first vote for the reconciliation package, adding to the pressure to negotiate, draft, vet, and whip the bill in a matter of weeks.

House committees will begin marking up their portions of the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package bill this week and plan to assemble the full package by mid-September ahead of the promised infrastructure vote. Congress is faced with critical deadlines at the end of September including the expiration of the current surface transportation authorization and government funding for federal agencies. Today, ABC sent a letter to the House Small Business Committee outlining concerns with the reconciliation package, including potential tax increases and labor requirements for small construction companies.

Also last week, ABC sent a letter to the House opposing the reconciliation package and expressing concerns about the impact of the partisan proposal’s tax hikes and labor requirements on the nation’s construction industry.

Of note, key votes for Senate Democrats, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., have made clear their opposition to the $3.5 trillion price tag on the current budget proposal, while progressives have called the $3.5 trillion proposal a compromise. These opposing views will lead to further discussions among Democrats on a viable proposal that can pass through both chambers and support the president’s policies.

ABC Tells OSHA Not to Expand COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard to Construction:
On Aug. 20, the Construction Industry Safety Coalition, of which ABC is a steering committee member, submitted comments in response to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Occupational Exposure to COVID-19; Emergency Temporary Standard interim final rule. Read more.

EEOC Announces New Filing Deadline for EEO-1 Component 1 Data Collection for 2019 and 2020:
Due to the continuing impact of COVID-19 on business operations, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced on Aug. 18 that the 2019 and 2020 EEO-1 Component 1 data collection filing deadline has been extended to Monday, Oct. 25, 2021. The deadline was previously extended from July 19 to Aug. 23. Read more.

NLRB’s New General Counsel Issues Memorandum Outlining Priorities:
On Aug. 12, the National Labor Relations Board’s new general counsel, Jennifer A. Abruzzo, issued Memorandum GC 21-04 to all NLRB regional offices, which outlines the priorities of the Office of the General Counsel. Read more.

Yesterday, ABC issued an action alert opposing the House’s efforts to move forward with the partisan budget reconciliation process that could result in tax hikes and far-reaching labor requirements for ABC members. Please urge your representatives to oppose this package this week as House Committees continue to mark up their sections of the package.

ABC also joined a coalition of organizations in a letter to the House Ways and Means Committee opposing efforts to cap the Section 1031 like-kind exchange tax provision currently in law. ABC also plans to provide committees with several other letters highlighting concerns with the reconciliation package and its potential to impact the construction industry.

Today, the Ways and Means Committee released a significant portion of the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill dealing with universal paid family and medical leave, retirement, childcare, Trade Adjustment Assistance, Medicare and more and posted the legislation on its website here. The Ways and Means Committee markup is scheduled to begin Thursday at 10 a.m. to address these provisions while the tax portions of the bill will be considered next week.

CAMMU Press Release on Steel Prices:
Last week, the Coalition of American Metal Manufacturers and Users (CAMMU), of which ABC is a member, released a statement calling for the complete elimination of the Section 232 tariffs. The release highlights the record high steel prices for U.S. manufacturers and notes the “shortage of steel in the United States that will only worsen if and when Congress passes an infrastructure bill,” and calls on the Biden Administration to eliminate the Section 232 tariffs. The release also included the CAMMU steel price chart can be found here.

President Biden to Announce Six-Part Plan to Combat COVID-19
At 5pm this evening, President Biden will unveil a six-part plan to combat coronavirus, which will include signing an executive order to require COVID-19 vaccinations for federal workers, including contractors that do business with the federal government.

The Wall Street Journal has also reported and the White House posted on its website that the President’s plan will also require employers with 100 or more employees to mandate vaccines for their workers or require testing at least once a week and will be required to provide paid time off for receiving vaccinations. Vaccines will also be required for health care workers at hospitals and facilities that receive Medicare or Medicaid reimbursements. The information states the Labor Department in the coming weeks plans to issue an emergency temporary standard implementing the new requirement, which will cover 80 million private-sector workers, officials said. Businesses that don’t comply can face fines of up to $14,000 per violation.

ABC is closely monitoring the announcement and will provide updates on the proposed requirements for employers.

REMINDER—ABC Action Alert:
Earlier this week ABC issued an action alert opposing the House’s efforts to move forward with the partisan budget reconciliation process that could result in tax hikes and far-reaching labor requirements for ABC members. Please urge your representatives to oppose this package this week as House Committees continue to mark up their sections of the package.

ABC Letters to Ways and Means Committee:
This week, ABC also sent a letter to the House Ways and Means Committee expressing concerns with the tax proposals and paid leave mandate ahead of the committee’s mark-up today. ABC also joined coalitions in three additional letters addressing stepped up basis, Section 199A deduction, and Section 1031 like-kind exchanges.

House committees have begun formulating legislative text that is in line with their budget resolution instructions. The tentative mark-up schedule puts all 13 House committees on track to hit the Sept. 15 deadline for drafting the full reconciliation bill. That would then enable the House to bring the reconciliation bill to the floor before it votes on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the bipartisan infrastructure bill, on Sept. 27.

CDW Statement on Budget Reconciliation:
Today, the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW), composed of more than 600 major business organizations, released a statement in response to the draft budget reconciliation bill from the House Education and Labor Committee, which includes provisions from the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, including excessive penalties, unnecessary restrictions negatively impacting opportunities for gig workers and limiting employer free speech, and $5 million aimed at replacing secret ballot in union representation elections with phone-based voting— which would expose employees to union intimidation.

You can also view more information on the civil penalties included in the package in this write up from Littler. ABC will continue to provide additional updates on this proposal as it progresses through Congress.

President Biden also reaffirmed his support for restrictive labor policies and the PRO Act in an address to labor union yesterday.

CDW PRO Act Letter to Conference of Mayors:
Last month, The US Conference of Mayors passed a resolution “support[ing] the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act and other federal legislation to protect public employee collective bargaining.” It was sponsored by 15 mayors. Today, the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace responded to the resolution in a letter authored by ABC’s Kristen Swearingen that urges the United States Conference of Mayors to reconsider its support of the PRO Act.

ABC-Supports Anti-“Salting” Legislation in U.S. House:
On Sept. 8, Rep. Rick Allen, R-Ga., a member of the House Education and Labor Committee, introduced the ABC-supported Truth in Employment Act, H.R. 5178. This legislation would amend the National Labor Relations Act to protect small businesses and their employees from the coercive tactic used by big unions known as “salting,” which makes small businesses targets of harassment campaigns designed to increase forced unionization. ABC issued a statement on the legislation and has long opposed the detrimental impacts of salting abuse and will continue to work with the House Education and Labor Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to educate Congress about the negative effects that the practice has on small businesses.

TPS Extension:
In a document scheduled to be officially published tomorrow September 10, 2021, the Federal Register has announced a 15-month automatic extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for all current beneficiaries of El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Haiti, Nepal and Sudan.

OFCCP Issues 2021 Corporate Scheduling List for Construction Contractors
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has issued the latest Corporate Scheduling Announcement List for construction contractors for fiscal year 2021, which includes 400 federal contractors, federally assisted contractors and subcontractors. Read more.

Statewide Vaccination Mandate Tracker:
Littler Mendelson has put together this chart tracking statewide vaccination mandates, which covers directives that affect public or private entities as employers, including state contractors.  The chart also indicates states where local vaccine mandates may be applicable. ABC National will continue to share this and other resources tracking state and local mandates as they are issued.